Stuffing and packing machine.



M. A. SIDWELL.

STUFFING AND PACKING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1918.

1,294,1G4k. Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS M. A. SIDWELL.

STUFHNG AND- PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATI ON FILED APR. 30 1918. LQQQJQ. Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WI A. SIDWELL.

STUFFING AND PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 30. I9I8.

LQMLIM. Patented Feb.1l,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I I, H V

MAH LON' A. SIDWELL, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

STUFFING AND PACKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

Application filed April 30, 1918. Serial No.231,614.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAHLON A. SrowELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Stuffing and Packing Machine, of which the following is a specification. t

This invention has reference to improvements in stuiiing and packing machines more especially designed for stutfing and packing dolls, toy animals, pin cushions and other similar articles and primarily the invention has for its object to provide an improved machine of the general character stated, of a simple, compact and economical construction in which the parts are cooperatively arranged for effecting a great saving in the labor usually expended in stuffing and packing the material to produce the articles stated.

Another object of myinvention is to provide an improved stufling and packing machine of that type in'which the material is constantly supplied from a hopper to the packing element, having specially con structed means for agitating the material to overcome clogging and bridging, wher by to maintain a constant and uniform feed thereof to the said packing element.

Vith other objects in view that'will hereinafter appear, my invention embodies, in a machine of the character mentioned, certain improved features of construction and novel arrangement of parts, all of whichwill be first explained in detail, then specifically pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a packing and stuffing machine embodying my invention.

, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, the main hopper being shown broken away.

Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal section of. my machine taken substantially on the line 33 on Fig. 2.

Fig. at is a perspective view of the agita tor devices for keeping the packing material in the main or feeding hopper in motion.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the plunger device and the crank disk that connects therewith. p

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the conpacker being'so combined with a filler tube and means for constantly feeding the material by gravity to the filler tube and a motor driven reciprocating plunger to which the rammer or packer element is attached and which carries devices for constantly agitating the packing material in its flow from the main feed hopper to the filler tube, whereby to maintain such uniform feed of the material to the filler and packer devices that the stufing material that comes through the filler is packed hard and evenly throughout the entire length of the body to be filled, the said packing element being operated under high speed to thereby render the machine one of great-efliciency' and a time saver.

In the drawings, I have illustrated a practical and preferred arrangement of my invention, it being, however, understood that the said arrangement is susceptible of various changes in form, proportion, and the detail combinations of the parts may be changed without departing from the principle of my invention as comes within the scope of the appended claims.

In carrying out my invention, the operative parts are mounted on a wooden base or supporting frame, in practice about 18 inches in height and of like width and which includes a table or bed portion 1, opposite sides 10 and a bottom '11.

2 designates, what is hereinafter termed, the packer funnel and it is detachably and pendently sustained on the bottom of the bed 1 by a number of (preferably three) clips 33 that are attached to the bed 1 by the nut and bolt connections 30-30, as shown.

Funnel 2 includes a pendent straight neck 20 that is provided with 'a laterally projected screw stud 21, the purpose of which will presently appear.

4 denotes a filler tube that is tapering from the upperto th lower or dischargin A metal cap or casting 5 that has a baserim 50 is secured on top of the-table- 1 by clamp screws 51-51, as shown.

6 designates a plunger rod that passes through a central aperture 12 in the table 1 with its lower portion extended downwardly into the packer funnel 2. and the filler tube 1. The lower end of the rod 6 terminates in a threaded socket 60 for receiving the threaded ends of packer tips 6 1, preferably of wood, and which, when appliedto theplunger, are held from=working loose-by jam nuts 62, as shown.

The packer tips may be of varied design according to the particular character of the material to be worked, a number of said dcsignsbeing indicated. by Fig. 8.

In; practice in a machine such as shown, the stroke of the plunger rod is 19, inches andthe said plunger rod is so-mounted, relatively to the discharging end of the filler tube-4,. that the tamping end of: the packer tip comes about f ct an inch'below the said filler tube-bottom;

The; plunger 6 isoperated at ahigh speed, in practice about one thousand strokes per minute, by motor transmission which may bearranged as is best shown in, Fig; 3, from which it will. be noticed a cast metal framing ismounted at one end on the table or bed 1 and at the other end on the cap 5 and the said; framing includes ahollow standard 7: that merges. with ahorizontal arm 70, the inner open end of which joins with a standand having a chamber formed by an inner vertical, portion 71-, atop plate 72 and a slide 73 which constitutes the front of the said chamber and which may be readily raised for givingacccss to thesaid chamber for adjusting the crank connections that join with; the plunger rod 6,. whose upper end-.is guided and, works through an aper= tureZLin the-top plat'e 72..

A1 drive shaft 8 is journaled in bearings 80--81; at the opposite ends of the hollow arm 70, one end of which: extends; beyond the arin 7-0. and. carriesa pulley wheel 82 around which passes a belt drive 83, as shown.

The other end of the shaft 8 carries a crank disk Stwitln which connects one; end of link; 9 whose other end flexibly connects with a clamp 90 attached to the P1111]: gen-rod 6,. the said; connection being: such that reciprocable motion: is impartedtto; the plunger: 6,, when the shaft:v 8, ismotfor or manually rotated.

14: designates a chute, whose lower end is supportedin an a-perture13in the bed 1 and,

tice suitably suspended at the upper end with its lower or discharging end projected into-the tube 1 4;. V

In packing machines of the general character stated and in which hopper devices are employed for leading the material, by gravity, toithe filling andpacking elements, more or less difficulty is found for maintaining a uniform and constant gravitation of the material to the discharging end of thehoppers and toovercome such conditions agitator devices of more or less efficiency have heretofore; been employed. to provide for a desired continuous movement, of the material.

Inmy construction of packing and stufiing machine, I have provided a simple and effective meansfor constantly agitating the material and keeping it from bridging over the discharging outlets, and the said means includes a. center rod 17- that extends up through the main hopper 16 and whose lower end is bent at aslight angle,as at 17, and terminates ina right angled; extension 17" that is attached to the plunger rod 6, as is-best shown inFig. 1., r

A bent portion 17- Ofl therod 17 is guided in: an elongated slot 15"- in the cut-off or slide member 15 that' is illustrated indetail inv Fig; 7.

As is best. shown-in Fig. 3 of the draw- 7 ings, the center rod 17, which extends nearly to the top ofthe-hopper 16, carries a pair of oppositely projected sets of agitator fingers-1'8 18, each of which is formed of a wire that is passed through the rod 17 and has its opposite ends bent at right angles to: form agitator fingers, the fingers of the upper agitator being bent downwardly toward the upwardly bent fingers ofthe lower agitator memben.

An agitator finger 25, preferably a flexible rod, is attached to the cent r bar and the said rod125 is guided through an elongated slot 15 in the cut-ofli slide 15' and the saidrod passes down throughthe guide funnel 4 and intov the filler, tube Other flexible rods 2626 are attachedto the-plunger rod 6, and they alsoextend through the funnelr 4 and down. into-thefillertube, as shown. 7

From the foregoing: description taken in connection with the drawings-,ihe complete construction, the manner of its operation and; the: advantagesflofimy invention willi be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

The manner in which my machine is used is as follows: The article to be stuifed and packed is held with the lower end of the filler tube through an opening left in the said article for the purpose.

The stufiing material which gravitates from the main hopper passes down through the guide receptacle or funnel, from which it flows into the filler hopper and into the filler tube.

Power being applied to the driven shaft 8, rapid motion is'imparted to the plunger and since the center rod with the agitator devices are caused to reciprocate with the said plunger, the material in the main hopper, the guide funnel and the filler hopper 1s kept in constant agitation as it gravitates toward the filler tube discharge, it being understood that additional shaking 7 up of the material in the filler hopper and the filler tube is provided for by the wires attached to the plunger, as before stated.

As the article being packed becomes gradually filled, the operator by proper manipulation can so hold the article, relatively to the discharge end of the filler tube, until the body has been fully stufied and packed.

What I claim is:

1. In a filling and packing machine, the combination with a filler tube, a feed hopper in communication with the said tube and from which the material is delivered into the tube; of a plunger or rammer, means .for reciprocating the plunger or rammer and other means movable with the said plunger or rammer for constantly agitating the ma- .terial in the hopper and the filler tube.

2. In a filling and packing machine, a suitable support including a table portion, a filler and packing means pendently supported from the bottom of the table, the said means including a filler tube adapted for being projected into the body to be filled and packed, a funnel connected with the filler tube, a main material receiving hopper from which the packing material gravitates into the filler funnel, a material agitator within the mainhopper, a combined packer and plunger operably mounted in the filler tube and funnel, power transmission for imparting reciprocable motion to the said plunger and packer, the said agitating devices including a center rod connected to and movable with the plunger and packer.

3. In a filling and packing machine, a

suitable support including a table portion, a filler and pacldng means pendently supported from the bottom of the table, the said means including a filler tube adapted for being projected into the body to be filled and packed, a funnel connected with the filler tube, a main material receiving hopper from which the packing material gravitates into the filler funnel, a material agitator within the main hopper, a combined packer and plunger operably mounted in the filler tube and funnel, power transmission for imparting reciprocable motion to the said plunger and packer, the said agitating devices including a center rod connected to and movable with the plunger and packer, and flexible wire agitators connected with the plunger and packer and movable through the packer and filler and in the main hopper.

4. In a filling and packing machine, a supporting frame including a tube, a filler and packing means pendent from the table, the said means including a funnel, a filler tube suspended from the funnel, the casting mounted on the table, a main funnel and a conveyer supported on top of the table to one side of the vertical axis of the filler and packing means, the said conveyer having its discharge end projected through the table and into the funnel beneath it, a vertical reciprocable plunger rod operable within the said funnel and the filler tube, drive mechanism mounted on the casting connected with and adapted to impart reciprocable motion to the plunger rod and agitator devices within the funnel, the filler tube, the main hopper and the conveyer, the said devices being connected and movable with the plunger rod.

5. In a filling and packing machine, a downwardly tapering filler tube and means tending to constantly feed the filling material into the said tube; of a plunger and rammer vertically reciprocable in the filler tube and including a ramming tip whose packing end is of a diameter substantially that of the discharging end of the filler and means for imparting such reciprocable motion to the plunger, whereby at the limit of the down or packing stroke, the packing end of the rammer is slightly projected below the discharge end of the filler tube and adapted to substantially close the flow of "thg l material through the said discharge en MAHLON A. SIDWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

